Terry Bean’s Problem

A prominent Portlander fights for his reputation after a love affair goes wrong.

Few people have worked harder for last month’s historic
decision to allow same-sex couples to marry in Oregon than Portland
real-estate developer Terry Bean.

Bean, 65, is one of
the founders of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s leading
gay-rights organization. He’s donated more than $1 million to the group
and serves on its board. His name is prominently displayed on a glass
wall at the organization’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.

ON THE MOVE: (Clockwise from upper left) Kiah Lawson chats with President Obama in Washington, D.C., last November; Lawson and Terry Bean (left) mingle with Carol Channing; Lawson and Bean in the White House Library; Lawson and Bean’s 2013 holiday card; Bean with former Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts.

Photos courtesy of Kiah Lawson. WW staff photo on bottom left.

His influence extends
beyond gay rights. No Oregonian has raised more money for President
Barack Obama. At a 2009 Human Rights Campaign dinner, Obama called Bean a
“great friend and supporter.” The president in 2012 hosted Bean on Air
Force One, and when Obama visits Oregon, Bean has had the honor of
greeting him as the president gets off his plane.

But today, when he’d rather be celebrating the same-sex marriage victory, Bean is instead fighting to protect his reputation.

Bean’s attorney has
told the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office that Bean is the
victim of an extortion plot carried out against him by a former
boyfriend, 24-year-old Kiah Lawson, a onetime cellphone salesman with a
drug problem and a criminal record.

Bean says that last
year he fell in love with Lawson. Bean paid him a $400-a-week allowance,
put Lawson up in one of his homes and took him on international trips.
Last fall, Bean brought Lawson to the White House and also introduced
him to Obama.

Bean’s attorney,
Kristen Winemiller, says Bean always acted in Lawson’s best interest.
“Our client did nothing improper in his considerable attempts to support
Lawson in making a better life for himself,” Winemiller says.

In
January, Lawson says, he discovered that Bean had a hidden camera in the
smoke detector above Bean’s bed in his West Hills home. Lawson used
this information to seek money from Bean, alleging that the camera
captured videos “of at least a half dozen individuals in a state of
nudity engaged in intimate acts with you.” Lawson claims he is in more
than one video.

Records reviewed by WW
show Bean recently attempted to settle the matter for $40,000 in
exchange for Lawson turning over the images and refraining from
disclosing Bean’s “alleged illicit sexual activities.”

That deal appears to
be off, and last week Bean’s attorney went to the DA, alleging Lawson
was guilty of theft and extortion, in addition to being involved in a
wider range of criminal activities. The case is under investigation by
Portland police.

WW first
contacted Bean a month ago about this story, and he has repeatedly
declined to comment. Bean’s attorney has also hired a former Multnomah
County prosecutor to represent six young men who know Bean. And Bean has
engaged a veteran Washington, D.C., communications specialist from a
firm with ties to Obama to manage the story.

Many of the facts are
in dispute, and it’s unclear how often guests in Bean’s bedroom might
have been caught on camera, or if Lawson’s efforts to extract money from
him constitutes extortion.

But this much is
sure: Bean has negotiated complex real estate deals, made himself
indispensable to players at the highest level of politics, and played a
role in the biggest civil-rights fight of our generation. Yet his legacy
is on the line because of his association with a troubled young man he
met on the dating app called Jack’d.

“Terry made the
mistake of falling for the wrong man,” Winemiller says. “Since that
mistake, Terry has been the victim of a ring of men who have broken into
his homes, stolen money and personal property and tried to extort money
from him by threatening his sterling public reputation.”

Bean grew up the scion of a powerful Portland family. His
great-grandfather was an Oregon Supreme Court justice and later a
federal judge. His grandfather, Ormond Bean, served 23 years as a
Portland city commissioner. His accomplishments included the development
of Delta Park. His father, Ormond Jr., ran a successful real-estate
company.

Bean himself was
raised in Lake Oswego. He attended the University of Oregon on a golf
scholarship, and returned to Portland and went to work at his father’s
firm, Bean Investment Real Estate. He invested in apartments and
converted rentals, such as the 561-unit Portland Center Apartments and
the Envoy at Southwest Vista Avenue and West Burnside Street, into
condominiums.

His investors
included San Francisco meat-packing heir James Hormel and wealthy
Portlanders, including stockbroker Jerry Bidwell; Frank Dulcich, the CEO
of Pacific Seafood; and Robert Philip, former CEO of Schnitzer Steel.
Bean hit hard times when a multimillion-dollar Las Vegas condo
conversion deal went bust as the national real-estate market plummeted
in 2008. His company is still operating, but with a lower profile.

He has been even more
prominent in politics. In 1978, the city of Eugene passed an ordinance
outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation, and Bean helped
lead the unsuccessful fight against repeal of the ordinance. He’s been a
major player at fundraisers and political events, often escorting
former Gov. Barbara Roberts, who considers Bean one of her closest
friends.

He’s given $24,000 to
candidates seeking state and local office since 2006, including $4,500
to Secretary of State Kate Brown’s campaigns, and $2,100 to elect Sam
Adams mayor of Portland in 2008. Bean has also given nearly $300,000 in
federal races since 2000, according to disclosure reports.

In a 2007 video
tribute to Bean—played at a Basic Rights Oregon event in his
honor—former Vice President Al Gore, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and
former Gov. Roberts all paid tribute to him. Roberts talked about his
tenacious battle for gay rights.

“He’s been willing to
get in people’s faces about this issue for decades,” she said. “He’s
stood toe to toe, eye to eye with presidents of the United States.”

In 2008, then-Gov.
Ted Kulongoski named Aug. 23 “Terry Bean Equality Day,” in recognition
of Bean’s tireless work on gay rights. He was co-best man at the 2012
wedding of former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

Bean’s fundraising
prowess reached its peak in 2012, when he helped Obama win a second
term. According to the watchdog group Public Citizen, Bean raised
$500,000 for Obama’s re-election. Obama thanked him publicly at an event
in Portland that year. When Obama left Portland after a fundraiser,
Bean flew to Seattle with him on Air Force One.

IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL: Lawson at a Democratic Party event with the president; Lawson and Bean at a Human Rights Campaign event.

Photos courtesy of Kiah Lawson

Bean’s current troubles began when he started dating Kiah Lawson.

Lawson grew up in
Junction City, where he graduated from high school in 2007, and soon
found himself in trouble. A co-worker of his at the Hollister store in
Eugene’s Valley River Center obtained an anti-stalking order against
Lawson in 2007, after telling a judge Lawson had threatened him and
tried to run him down with a car. In 2008, Lawson’s boyfriend at the
time went to court and won a protective order, saying Lawson had a
history of “criminal behavior and being vengeful,” according to court
records.

Four years later, in
November 2012, Lawson was accused of breaking down an apartment door and
beating another boyfriend, spattering blood on the walls. Lawson later
pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault.

In January 2013,
Lawson pleaded guilty to theft after stealing headphones and a
PlayStation 3 console from the Hillsboro Best Buy. In August 2013, a
Washington County judge issued a warrant for Lawson’s arrest after he
failed to appear at an arraignment for driving with a suspended license.

That same month, court records show, Lawson and Bean began dating.

Lawson told WW
the two met through Jack’d, and that Bean offered to help him with
court fines stemming from his criminal convictions, and encouraged him
to stay off drugs and stop smoking. “I was impressed,” Lawson says of
Bean. “There was a sense of hope around him. You know, the bling. I
liked that he tried to help me, to encourage me.”

Bean, who drives a
2007 Bentley convertible and lives in a $1 million West Hills home, soon
moved Lawson into a Hayden Island condo he also owns, court records
show. Lawson says Bean took him to a birthday party for former Mayor
Adams and lunches with Barbara Roberts, and Christmas caroling with
Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini.

The two traveled
widely, to Bean’s home in Palm Springs, Calif., to the Dominican
Republic and to Europe, according to Lawson’s Facebook page and
documents reviewed by WW.

They went to
Washington, D.C., where in November 2013 Bean took Lawson on a private
tour of the White House. They also attended a Democratic Party
fundraiser that featured President Obama.

It’s unclear whether
Lawson’s criminal record was an issue in connection with a Secret
Service background check people meeting the president often undergo.
Bean declined to answer questions about the security clearance.

Winemiller, Bean’s
attorney, says Bean believes the “Secret Service process for determining
who can and cannot participate in events with the president is
unassailable, and Mr. Bean has never questioned that process, nor would
he.”

Lawson was allowed
into the Obama event and afterward shook hands with the president as
Bean snapped a photo. Lawson says meeting the president was exciting,
but that’s not his best memory. “The White House library was awesome,”
Lawson says. “All those old books.”

FLYING HIGH: Terry Bean and President Barack Obama on Air Force One in 2012.

Lawson and Bean’s romance had many of the trappings of a
domestic relationship. Bean visited Lawson’s family in Junction City and
took Lawson’s mother to a University of Oregon Ducks football game.
Bean hosted Lawson’s family at his home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The traditional
trappings only went so far. Lawson claims that, as part of their
relationship, Bean asked him to bring younger men to the West Hills
house. He also says their relationship allowed them to have sex with
other men, so long as the other approved.

On Jan. 3, Lawson
says, he became suspicious that Bean had entertained a man whom they had
met on a different dating site, Adam4Adam. He knew Bean had an
extensive video surveillance system throughout the house; there were
security cameras visible in places such as the kitchen, the foyer and
hallways.

Lawson says he
accessed the security system and thumbed through video images to see if
he could spot the other man. There, he says, he discovered videos taken
in Bean’s bedroom. They included Lawson and Bean having sex, as well as
video of at least six other men engaged in sex acts at various times.

He made screenshots and later confronted Bean about the recordings, some of which appeared to date back months.

It’s a misdemeanor in
Oregon to knowingly video-record another person who is naked without
his or her consent if the person being recorded has a reasonable
expectation of privacy.

Winemiller, Bean’s
attorney, said the security system in Bean’s home was never used for any
improper or illegal purpose. “No footage from that system is archived
by Mr. Bean or used beyond the intended purpose of a security system,”
she said.

According to Lawson,
however, Bean denied at first that there was a video camera in the
bedroom. Bean then acknowledged he had installed a camera to protect
himself against thefts, but that it hadn’t worked for years and that he
didn’t know how to activate it.

Lawson says they argued. The two tried to reconcile and traveled to Europe. In February, they broke up.

On Feb. 15, Bean went
to his Hayden Island condo and demanded that Lawson move out. The two
men argued and police were called. An officer noticed a mark on Bean’s
forehead, and Bean denied that Lawson caused it. But in a
restraining-order petition he filed subsequently, Bean claimed Lawson
had hit him. (Bean and Lawson both sought restraining orders against
each other in March. Lawson has withdrawn his; Bean’s is still in
effect.)

Lawson found a lawyer and, brandishing the video images, asked Bean for money.

The lawyer that Lawson found, Jeff Dickey, says he has
known Bean for 20 years. Dickey got his law license in 2009 and had
worked briefly for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office. The
DA later refused to employ him full time, and Dickey won a settlement
after claiming his civil rights had been violated. He has struggled—two
judges have removed him from cases recently after he failed to appear at
hearings. (Dickey tells WW his practice has suffered because of recent health issues.)

On Feb. 20, Dickey
sent Bean a letter quoting Lawson saying Bean was “his lover, companion
and best friend.” But Lawson, according to the letter obtained by WW, claimed his discovery of the video recordings had caused “emotional trauma, psychological damage and breach of trust.”

“After learning of
the presence of cameras that took video of our most intimate moments—and
captured images of other individuals in a state of nudity—I have had a
difficult time trusting him,” Lawson is quoted in the letter.

In the letter, Dickey
said Lawson possessed screenshots from some of the videos and was
considering filing a civil lawsuit against Bean. Dickey also said Lawson
was considering calling police, suggesting that the video recordings
violated an Oregon law against invasion of personal privacy. His client,
Dickey said, “has agreed to first try to reach a compromise and
settlement to resolve his complaints.”

It’s unclear whether
Lawson’s demand for money would qualify as extortion. In certain
circumstances, under Oregon law, extortion can include demanding money
from someone in exchange for not accusing a person of a crime, or
exposing an embarrassing or damaging secret. It may not be extortion,
according to state law, if the person making the demand did so to “make
good the wrong which was the subject of the threatened charge.”

“Lawyers can’t say
things like, ‘I’m going to ruin you,’” says John Mansfield, a Portland
lawyer who specializes in privacy issues. “But it’s permissible to ask
for a settlement based on the evidence.”

On March 17,
Winemiller wrote back to Dickey, accusing Lawson of stealing a Rolex
watch, golf clubs and clothing from Bean. Winemiller also accused Lawson
and a friend, Michael Lytle, of using Bean’s bank card to run up a bill
of $18,000. (Lytle’s criminal record includes burglary, drug sales and
identity theft.) Winemiller wrote that Lawson and his friends “are in
league to extract a payout” from Bean.

Both Lawson and Lytle deny Winemiller’s allegations.

Last month, Lawson’s and Bean’s attorneys entered into mediation and emerged with an agreement. Under the deal, reviewed by WW,
Lawson would get $40,000, including $12,500 for Dickey, Lawson’s
attorney, and $9,500 toward drug treatment for Lawson. (Lawson was
arrested April 20 at Sea-Tac Airport for possession of meth on the way
back from a trip to Hawaii to visit friends. The King County, Wash.,
district attorney’s office says the case is under review.)

In exchange for the
money, Lawson agreed to turn over all images he had from the videos. The
agreement also said Lawson would be paid only if by May 8 there had
been no media reports concerning the claims made by Lawson concerning
“alleged illicit sexual acts” by Bean.

The agreement also required that an ex-boyfriend of Lawson’s, Denis Sieben, settle with Bean. Sieben, 19, tells WW
he had sex with Lawson in Bean’s bed often during September. Sieben
says Lawson has told him he appears in at least one video, but says he
never saw any of the images. He also says he never consented to being
recorded.

Bean and his attorney declined to discuss the settlement agreement.

Two weeks ago, Lawson
turned his iPhone containing images from the videos over to Charles
Faulk, a former electronic forensics expert with the U.S. Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who has been hired by Bean’s
attorney. According to a recording of a conversation between them, Faulk
told Lawson he had wiped the images off the iPhone so they could never
be recovered. Faulk declined to comment for this story.

Nevertheless, Lawson
says he has yet to receive any money from the settlement. Attorneys for
Lawson and Bean accuse the other side of failing to hold up their end of
the settlement agreement.

Over the past month, Bean has launched a three-part strategy to combat Lawson’s claims.

First, Bean hired
Washington, D.C., public relations strategist Hilary Rosen. Rosen works
for SKDKnickerbocker, a firm that includes Anita Dunn, Obama’s former
communications director. Rosen is also a longtime friend of Bean’s and a
former board member of the Human Rights Foundation. Second, Bean’s
legal team enlisted Jim McIntyre, a former Multnomah County deputy
district attorney, to represent six young men who know Bean. McIntyre
declined to comment.

One of the men represented by McIntyre tells WW
he had sexual contact with Bean in the bedroom of Bean’s West Hills
home, and has told Bean’s attorney he was unaware of a video recording
system. Bean’s attorney, Winemiller, has since offered to advise the man
on a domestic-violence charge and to help him find an apartment.
Winemiller says the man was in need of social services, and she offered
to refer him to Central City Concern.

Finally, Bean started
building a criminal case against Lawson and his friends. One man
represented by McIntyre says Bean called him recently to see what he
knew about Lawson.

Another man, Matt
Steel, who also spent time at Bean’s house, says he told Bean he once
heard Lawson and Lytle plotting to get money from Bean. Bean then asked
him for “any videos, evidence, messages, any photos of them doing
anything illegal,” Steel tells WW.

On May 21, Bean’s
representatives visited the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.
The DA’s office confirms that it has received a complaint from Bean’s
attorney. The office has cited a conflict of interest because the
investigation involves Dickey, who once worked there. As a result, the
case has been turned over to the Clackamas County District Attorney’s
office.

“We are in the
process of doing a full investigation in conjunction with the Portland
Police Bureau,” Scott Healy, Clackamas County senior deputy district
attorney, tells WW. “Our investigation has started relatively
recently. All complaints will be fully investigated, but I cannot
comment further than that.”

Bean’s attorney,
Winemiller, declined to discuss the evidence she presented to
prosecutors. “We are confident that investigators will uncover the full
depth of what has been done to Mr. Bean,” she says.

Dickey, Lawson’s attorney, says talk of a criminal investigation is simply a smokescreen.

“Terry is creating a
distraction over here so we don’t pay attention to the fact that there
were victims who were surreptitiously videotaped,” Dickey says. “This is
a tactic by Terry to create an alterative narrative.”

DEDICATION: Bean’s contribution to the Human Rights Campaign has earned him a place of distinction at the gay-rights organization’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.

IMAGE: Eleanor Bell

For Bean, it’s not certain what happens next. People close
to him say he’s distraught about the case and the potential damage to
his reputation.

“I have known Terry Bean for 30 years,” Barbara Roberts, the former Oregon governor, tells WW. “There is no finer or more trustworthy man in Oregon.He has helped so many people.

“I am hopeful that
law enforcement acts swiftly to put an end to this hateful charade and I
feel terrible for Terry that this unfortunate incident has become
public.”

On May 31, nearly
1,000 revelers turned up at Montgomery Park for a raucous victory
celebration marking a federal judge’s overturning of Oregon’s ban on
same-sex marriage.

Gay-rights pioneers, such as former Mayor Adams, raised their glasses to dozens of newly married gay couples.

In between music by
the LoveBomb Go-Go Marching Band and DJ Zimmie, Gov. John Kitzhaber,
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and other leaders who have fought for
decades for gay rights recognized the groups and individuals who’d made
equality possible in Oregon.

"In the low usage areas, we found that our vehicles sit idle four times longer, ultimately affecting overall vehicle availability for the Portland membership base, as well as parking for the Portland community."

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